Thursday, June 30, 2016

Thursday: Blood Tests and Conference Calls

Went for my blood test in the morning; the technician who attended to me was very excited to see me without my mask and called out to her colleague, who came over to ask me how I was!  :D


On the way home, I stopped at the grocery store for the cans of coconut water that were on sale.  However, they were not the bigger cans that usually sell for $.99 each.  These were smaller cans and I didn't think it was much of a bargain, so I didn't buy any.

Also on the way home, I put gas to the car.  $2.79/gal. total came to $30.97.  Once I start going downtown every day for radiation treatment, I'll need to put gas more often, at least once a week.

When I came home and checked my work emails, there were several from my supervisor, including one asking when I'd be available for a conference call.  So, I responded to the emails and we had the conference call later in the afternoon.   I spent the rest of the afternoon and part of the evening doing office work.  I was determined to send back a completed assignment by the end of the work day, today, before I took my day of vacation tomorrow.  I was able to do that and I am happy.

In the evening, my neighbor across the street called and brought me some Armenian food her mother had made.  I had just finished having my dinner of rice and shrimp curry, so I just took a small bite to taste it.  Made of red lentils and couscous, with onions and some spices, it tasted quite nice.  I will keep it in the fridge and have for my dinner, tomorrow.

Speaking of my fridge, it seems like the seal around the fridge door is not sealing too well.  I looked on-line to see how to replace the seal, but it seems a bit complicated for me to tackle on my own.  I called Sears appliance repairs and they charge $99 for a service call, to have someone come out to take a look and give an estimate for parts and labor.  Of course, the fridge/freezer is almost 26 years old, so it might be time to replace it.  But so far, it has worked without any problems and the seal on the freezer side is fine.  I think I will ask my neighbor if he is capable of fixing it.  If not, it might be time to go shopping for a new fridge/freezer.

Today's decluttering:

June 30 Decluttering
4 lamp shades
6 brass cups

The lamp shades were removed from the ceiling fan/light fixture that used to be in daughter's bedroom, when I had it replaced with a new ceiling fan/light fixture.  The new fan/light fixture came with its own lamp shades.

The 6 brass cups were a gift from a cousin's friend who paid us a visit many, many years ago.

With these 10 items, I have decluttered 300 items!  I want to continue decluttering in July too.  But I am debating between continuing with decluttering 10 items a day which would result in 310 items by the end of July or trying a different method, where you declutter the same number of items as the date.  So, 1 item on the 1st, 2 items on the 2nd, 3 items on the 3rd, etc. until 31 items on the 31st.  If I do it this way, I'd declutter 496 items by the the end of the month!  Or maybe I'll do a combination of both.  Both ways result in 190 items decluttered by the 19th of the month, so I can continue to declutter 10 items a day for the first 19 days and then, switch to 20 items on the 20th, 21 on the 21st, etc.  Although, hopefully, by that time, I won't have 30 items to toss on the 30th and 31 items on the 31st!  Maybe I should do it in reverse order - declutter 31 items on the 1st, 30 on the 2nd and so on until down to 1 item on the 31!  That sort of makes more sense to me, but the thought of finding 31 items to toss, tomorrow, seems rather daunting.  Maybe I should just stick to my 10 items a day; slow and steady. 

Also in the evening, I put water to the front garden.  I will water the back garden tomorrow evening.

Today, I am grateful for:

- Blood test went well
- Being able to run errands for myself
- Getting my work assignment done
- Neighbor bringing me more food
- Video chatting with daughter

Today, I spent:

$1 for parking.
$30.97 for gas (car).


10 comments:

  1. Well that was sure sweet of the technician and her colleague. They both sound like wonderful and caring people. :)

    I'm glad you were able to get your work done and out of the way. I'll be that felt wonderful to know it was behind you. Great job in the decluttering!

    Have a wonderful weekend!

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    1. I've been going to this lab very regularly since I started my chemo therapy and the majority of the technicians have all been very kind and considerate.

      Yes, I was very happy to get the week's work done, especially as I took the day off, today (knew it would be hard to put in a proper day's work with two medical appointments).

      Hope you'll have a lovely weekend, too. Do you have anything special planned?

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  2. Your comment about the cans of coconut water reminded me that I forgot to get my can of tamarind nectar at CVS this week. Darn it.

    I hope your neighbor is able to help you replace the seal on your fridge. Yes, yours is old but if it works well, why spend hundreds of dollars in replacing it? I looked into replacing ours since the ice maker isn't working and it's 14 years old. But when I looked at the electrical consumption compared to an Energy-Star rated similar model, it wasn't worth it no matter what they say. I'd have to spend well over $1,000 to get a new one AND consumption-wise the difference isn't dramatic. So I'm sticking to my old fridge/freezer combo that doesn't make ice anymore.

    Great job on your decluttering! I don't have any input as to which method you should use since I don't know just how much stuff you have to declutter in your house. As for me I tend to either just get rid of 1 thing that I ran across, or a whole closet's worth at a time. I found that assigning a random number of things to find every day just stressed me more. I didn't count how many things I got rid of this month but I donated three large garbage bags full of books to our library's 4th of July Book Sale, and made a couple of trips to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore with several bags of donations. That felt good! I don't know if I have a ton left to get rid of. Some stuff I do want to keep so I don't have to replace it later on. Other stuff I'm holding on to in case the kids want/need it as they establish themselves in their own homes.

    Have a great vacation day today!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sorry you didn't get to try the tamarind nectar. Maybe they'll go on sale again and you can get some then.

      I still need to call my neighbor and ask him if he can fix the fridge. If not, I guess I'll go ahead and buy a new one. I don't have an ice maker on my current one and I don't want one on a new one, either. I need to measure the space and see what will fit, but there is at least one model for just over $700, which sounds reasonable enough to me.

      As for the decluttering, at times I think I have a ton of stuff to get rid of and, at other times, I think I don't have much at all!

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  3. A new refrigerator freezer would be a whole lot more energy efficient and save you money on electricity. As old as yours is I don't think I would take the risk of having it stop working and defrosting/warming up everything.

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    1. Marylynn, you are right. I've been expecting the fridge/freezer to quit working any time for the past several years! Time to look into replacing it. Need to measure the space and go shopping. :)

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  4. Proud blood work went well.. And you had nice workers to deal with.. Always nice, when everyone is pleasant.
    How sweet of neighbor to bring the food to you.. It will be nice to have your meal already cooked for you tomorrow.
    Decluttering.... I think the 10 items a day would be enough to get me.ha.. If I had to do 31 in one day.............oops I think I would fail.ha Today, I went through an old chiffrobe I have and decluttered it.. It was a lot of stuff, that had been in there for years.. never looked at or used.. so I decluttered it and got 20 items.. So happy, and the chiffrobe looks so much better. Definite improvement. Even after moving just 2 months ago [and getting rid of lots of stuff then] I still find stuff to get rid of.. I guess this decluttering thing is a forever thing.ha,ha
    Hope you have a nice evening.

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    1. Judy, great job finding 20 items to declutter! Yes, decluttering is an on-going process! Even after you do a major whole-house decluttering, things wear out, new things come in, you decide you really don't need an item you kept, etc.

      Hope you have a lovely weekend and get some time to do some sewing.

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  5. Won't you find it hard to declutter only one or two items for the first few days in July, now that you are on a roll? But then, after 300 items, maybe you need a break for a few days. Waiting to see what you decide : )
    Bushlady

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    Replies
    1. Bushlady, the thought of decluttering just a few items for the first few days is very tempting!

      Delete

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